This invention relates to hand-held devices for acquiring data, and particularly to optical code reading devices and other image capture devices.
Many of the devices for optical code reading and image capture include keypads. These keypads can be either virtualxe2x80x94i.e., shown as a keypad picture on a touch-sensitive screenxe2x80x94or actual.
It would be desirable to provide a hand-held data acquisition device which has an improved ergonomic arrangement.
It is an object of this invention to provide a hand-held data acquisition device which has an improved ergonomic arrangement.
A data acquisition device according to the invention includes a body portion having a data acquisition module arranged to scan objectsxe2x80x94e.g., using a bar code scanner, image capture apparatus, RFID transmitter and receiver or other suitable information acquisition device. The body portion has a central optical axis which is directed outward from the distal end of the device. The body portion also includes an upper surface having a display mounted thereon. The plane of the display is positioned at a first angle with respect to the axis.
The device also includes a handle portion extending from a bottom surface of the body portion. The handle portion is joined to the body portion at a location near the distal end at a second angle with respect to the body portion.
Preferably, the first angle and the second angle allow viewing of the display portion and scanning at least one of the objects to occur substantially simultaneously.
In another embodiment of the invention, the hand-held data acquisition device includes a first high-friction element located between the upper body portion and the handle. The first element has at least one generally straight face. The device also includes a second high-friction element preferably located in the handle. The second high-friction element has a generally straight face, whereby the face of the first element and the face of the second element combine to provide a set of high-friction rest points for the device. These rest points limit the movement of the device when it is placed in a rest positionxe2x80x94e.g., when it is laid on its side.